Clinical efficacy of minimally invasive Nuss surgery in the treatment of patients with pectus excavatum at different ages

Abstract:

Objective：To investigate the clinical efficacy of minimally invasive Nuss surgery in the treatment of patients with pectus excavatum at different ages. Methods：Twenty patients aged between 3-6（not including 6），20 patients aged between 6-12（nog in－cluding 12） and 20 patients aged older than 12 were selected and treated with Nuss procedure. Comparison was made between the three groups concerning the perioperative situation，postoperative complications and postoperative orthopedic effects. Results：There was no significant difference in operation time，amount of blood loss，postoperative hospital stay among groups of different ages. But the older the patients were，the longer time the analgesic and ambulation required，which were of significantly differences. There was no fatal postoperative complication in the three groups and there was no significant difference in complication incidence among groups of different ages. The orthopedic effects were fine except one case with age older than 12. With the growing of age，the psychological obstacles were increased，therefore，the orthopedic effects became less satisfactory. Conclusions：Nuss surgery can achieve fine ortho－pedic effects，which varies inversely with age. 3-6 years old is the ideal age for performing Nuss procedure surgery.